Just another day in paradise…after work Noah and I met with our real estate agent to see 3 more houses. One of them was a second look and we’re probably going to make an offer. However, until we get our inspection and everything checks out okay I’m not holding out too much hope. I am however remaining cautiously optimistic.
Because we got home late and there was no time to make dinner and no leftovers to eat, we had pizza! The only piece of mail we received was a coupon from Marco’s Pizza. So it just seemed like the right thing to do (and probably better than our other option – McDonald’s). Not the best – certainly not as good as Hungry Howie’s as far as chain pizza goes – but tasty none the less. And what were our two toppings? Olives, of course! And pepperoni too. We enjoyed our pizza while watching Monday’s The Blacklist episode. Liz finally found out the truth about Tom! Yay!
What’re your favorite pizza toppings? Does anyone else watch The Blacklist?
No good photos of tonight’s dinner to share as it was a semi-fail…grilled smoked sausage with onions and peppers – that was tasty, but the roasted broccoli? Meh. It seems like everyone in the food blogging world, Pinterest, and Facebook is raving about roasted broccoli. My roasted broccoli – seasoned with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper – was way undercooked and just kind of blah. The recipe I “followed” called for it to roast for 15-20 minutes…mine would’ve needed about 30 minutes to be right. Oh well, it was still edible and even Noah B. (who is not a broccoli super fan) ate it. I sprinkled a few {read – many} drops of red wine vinegar on it and that was a slight improvement…
The house hunting on Sunday was another fail. But hey, there’re other houses out there, right? The right one for the B Team will reveal itself when the time is right I suppose. Tomorrow we are going to see a house we liked for a 2nd time – maybe we’ll decide it’s the one? I woke up this morning very frustrated about the house hunt, but in my Daily Quote email from Real Simple was this:
Patience and the passing of time do more than strength or fury.
– Jean de la Fontaine
All in all yesterday was a nice little Saturday: hung out in the morning lounging about; then early afternoon went out for a 7.62 mile run with B1 aka Noah B aka The Hubs (half marathon in 5 weeks!). After the delicious apple spice baked oatmeal for breakfast I only had a half a banana and a couple graham crackers before the run. When we got home I was hungry for something, but didn’t really know what so I made a protein shake. Yum yum!
Pre-run pic….no pics afterward, but we didn’t look quite this perky. B1 and I will be running in the Glass City Half Marathon in Toledo, OH on April 27. This winter has really kicked my running butt. The last 2 years that I’ve been running outside in the winter it’s been fairly mild and we haven’t had to contend with too much snow and ice. Not this year. It’s been rough, really rough. Spring is finally starting to show it’s face in that the pavement’s mostly dry and I don’t feel like I’m going to break my ankle every time I go out for a run.
I generally buy berries when they’re on sale, but that usually means I end up buying too many and can’t eat them all fresh before they go bad. So, instead of wasting them, I throw them in a baggie and put them in the freezer – then I have frozen berries on hand when I need to make a delicious smoothie or shake. See the Very Berry Shake recipe below! Buying the berries fresh and then freezing themprobably saves some money as well since those bags of frozen berries/fruit can be pretty pricey if they’re not on sale.
Very Berry Shake
1 C Frozen Berries (I used combo of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)
½ Banana (I used frozen)
1 C Almond Milk (I used Unsweetened Vanilla – you could use regular milk, coconut water, regular water)
½ scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1 dollop Almond Butter (approx. 2 Tbs)
1 tsp Flax Seed
Blend and enjoy!
(Makes about 20 oz – 2 small servings or 1 healthy serving)
* The almond butter in this shake makes it creamy and gives it a delicious richness. This was pretty thick and super tasty!
Today we are:
(drawing by B1)
This afternoon we’re meeting with our real estate agent to look at more houses. We’ve already found 2 that we liked enough to put offers in on, but they both had water issues so alas, no house for us yet. Onward and upward! Maybe 3rd time’s the charm, right? Happy Sunday!
Finally taking the leap and starting my own blog. Slightly scary and very exciting!
I love food, cooking, baking, having fun, and {mostly} healthy living. I also have a passion for nutrition and eating right. I look forward to sharing recipes, tips and tricks for good nutrition and healthy living, and my life adventures.
Without further ado – let’s get the party started with a recipe! This morning’s breakfast of baked oatmeal came together quickly and was the result of having no breakfast meats in the apartment (so sad, I know). This was one of the best versions of baked oatmeal I’ve had/made thus far. Super yummy – and hubby approved! Thanks for the recipe inspiration Eat.Drink.Love.
Apple Spice Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
2 C. old fashioned oats
1/3 C. dried fruit – I used half dried cranberries and raisins
1/3 C. chopped walnuts
2 Tbs. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
Pinch of salt
1 Gala apple, cored and chopped into cubes
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. honey
2 C. milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 3-qt (approx) baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix the oats, dried fruit, walnuts, sugar, spices, salt, and apple together in a bowl.
Mix the vanilla and honey with the melted butter. Pour in the butter mixture over the oats and stir until well-combined.
Pour the mixture into the baking dish.
Pour the milk over the oat mixture so that it’s evenly distributed.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the milk is mostly absorbed.
Serve with additional milk and syrup if desired.
Enjoy!
And please come back to The Nourished Olive for more food, fun, and adventures!
Live Well with Alison 